U.S. Catholic bishops OK new Mass translation

Published 1:00 am, Friday, June 16, 2006

The nation's Roman Catholic bishops signed off Thursday on a new English translation for the Mass that would change prayers ingrained in the memories of millions of American parishioners.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, meeting in Los Angeles, voted at its biannual meeting for a new translation after a brief but vigorous debate over several small changes in wording. The 173-29 vote on the Order of the Mass was aimed at satisfying Vatican calls for a translation that's closer to the Latin version.

Before Mass changes at the parish level, the Americans' version must go to offices in the Holy See for final approval.

"Without a doubt, this is the most significant liturgical action to come before this body for many years," said Bishop
Donald Trautman
, chairman of the conference's
Committee on Liturgy
.

"It will take some adapting, but it is not earth-shattering when you think of the changes we went through 40 years ago," he said, referring to the
Second Vatican Council
, where the Latin Mass was replaced by the vernacular languages in each country.

The new translation alters the wording of key texts spoken by Catholics during worship, including the Nicene Creed, the Gloria, the Penitential Rite, the Sanctus and Communion.

Catholic lay people in the Danbury area had a mixed reaction to the news. Some said the change would be fine, others wondered why the church was bothering.

"I have childlike faith," said 78-year-old
Natalie DiBella
of Brookfield, who had no problem with possible changes. "I believe the Pope and bishops work through the Holy Spirit. God would not misdirect them."

DiBella, who has been a member of St.
Marguerite Bourgeoys Church
in Brookfield since the church was founded in the early 1980s, did have one caveat: "Don't change our commandments."

For Danbury resident
Lena Eriquez
, changes in the wording of prayers for Mass don't seem necessary. "Why don't they leave it alone?" she said.

Eriquez, 85 and a lifelong member of St.
Peter Church
in Danbury, had another suggestion. "If they want to make a change, why not go back to Latin? I'm sure a lot of people will accept that wholeheartedly. They really miss it."

Eriquez herself "wouldn't mind" if the Mass goes back to Latin.

In New Fairfield,
Jeannette Sweeney
also doesn't see the need for the changes. "I find them irrelevant. I don't think they're necessary."

Sweeney, who is 82 and attends Mass six days a week at St. Edward the
Confessor Church
in New Fairfield, said the spirit of the words are what is important. "It has to be the spirit of what was meant. I'm very much about a living faith."

If the words of prayers are changed, Sweeney said, there's another problem. "You confuse people by changing things."

Tom O'Leary
, a senior citizen and member of St.
Mary Church
in Bethel for 41 years, said since he hadn't seen the translations, commenting on the changes would be difficult.

But he said the proposal for changes seems like much ado about nothing. "Language in the Church and its liturgy is constantly evolving."

Some have worried about changing a fundamental rite of worship that is so much a part of Catholic identity, especially now.

Mass attendance has been declining, the priest shortage has left a growing number of churches without a resident cleric, bishops and parishioners have been battling over the closure of old churches and schools, and the prelates have been trying to rebuild trust in their leadership after the clergy sex abuse crisis.

The Vatican recently issued updated guidelines for the translation of the Latin texts that try not only for accuracy but for "a deeper language that's more expressive and more poetic," said
Monsignor James
.
P. Moroney
, who leads the liturgy office for the bishops' conference.

Minor changes to the wording of many portions of the Mass will be obvious to Catholics. The repeated exchanges "The Lord be with you" / "And also with you" between a priest and his congregation, for example, become "The Lord be with you" / "And with your spirit" in the updated version.

The prayer said before Communion would become "Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof," instead of "Lord, I am not worthy to receive you."

Survey results released by the conference's Committee on Liturgy last November found that U.S. bishops were split over whether the changes were necessary, but in the end the proposal won more than the 168 votes it needed for approval.

Some bishops said the changes would deepen lay people's understanding of Catholicism and the Scriptures. They said priests could use the changes to spark a discussion of the liturgical reasoning behind them, including citing biblical stories and the Latin version.

"All these changes should require ... a certain amount of explanation and allow the people who are using them to grow in faith and not remain where they are," said Archbishop
Oscar H. Lipscomb
of Mobile, Ala.

Bishops debated for about 20 minutes on a variety of wording changes, some pitting the familiar against the new. A proposal to change the words of the Nicene Creed from "in one being" to "consubstantial," which is closer to the Latin, failed.

On another subject, retiring Washington Cardinal
Theodore McCarrick
, who has been leading the bishops' task force on Catholics in public life, announced that a new ad hoc group will serve as a liaison between the bishops' conference and Catholic politicians. He also said the task force had met with Catholic Democrats and Republicans privately to discuss how to best merge their religious beliefs and their politics.

Catholic politicians' duty to adhere to church teachings - particularly Catholicism's anti-abortion stance - was a hot-button issue in the 2004 campaign when
John Kerry
, a Catholic who supports abortion rights, was the Democratic presidential nominee.